


Detention

by FallOutBean



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Anti-harassment, Everyone is soft for Bemily, Evolving Mitchsen Brotp, F/F, IT!Beca, IT!Emily, Law Corp AU, Lawyer!Aubrey, Side Steca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:42:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21561304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallOutBean/pseuds/FallOutBean
Summary: What a travesty. Aubrey Posen, the incarnation of correctness, has to attend anti-harrassment training. At least the teacher is pretty. / Beca gets a new co-worker and is struggling to maintain her cool.  // Rated M for language and adult-ish topics.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Aubrey Posen, Emily Junk/Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a repost of my work from fanfiction.net  
>  **TW:** mentions of sexual harassment at work.

This is a farce. Aubrey is fuming when she walks down the corridor. She peeks around the corner before rounding it - hopefully no one of her colleagues sees her here. Well, who is she kidding; this part of the building is not visited by a lot of people. It inhabits the archive, the storage rooms and a few other doors that lead to places she doesn't know. She was here a few times during the first weeks and then never again.

When the corridor is free of potential nosy coworkers, she approaches the seminar room she'll spend the next two days. **Anti-Sexual Harassment Training** is written on the letter in her hand; she got it last week right before weekend. With the letter came a brochure and some information with times and dates. She, Aubrey Posen, had to take anti-harassment training. Ridiculous. She is the epitome of correctness and civility. She loves rules and loves to remember other people they exist. It’s her god-damn job to make sure everyone plays by the rules. She’s a lawyer for public law. Jesus.

The door is slightly open, and she enters the room quietly. There are already four people sitting at the U-shaped table formation, of which she knows only one: Beca Mitchell, the IT girl. She is slightly surprised at first, but then isn’t really. This woman always meant trouble and now that she thinks of it, Aubrey is not really wondering why Mitchell would be here. She probably crossed a boundary when this self-proclaimed womanizer so much as just interacted with someone.

The other three people are strangers, but co-workers nonetheless; otherwise they wouldn’t be here. Two men, both with short brown hair, and a pretty brunette with a low-cut neckline.

Beca waves at Aubrey, obviously bored by this whole situation and she manages a nod back. One of the guys speaks up.

“Aaand what did you do to be here?” He grins at everyone, his brows slightly perked in curiousness.

Aubrey scoffs. “This isn’t prison you know. We’re not gang members who boast about their crimes to earn respect.”

The others answer though, and Aubrey almost expects him to stick his tongue out.

“My letter says something about not being able to recognize personal boarders and No’s.” says the other guy with a shrug. “I’m Jesse by the way.”

“Stacie. I may have been a bit forward when I asked someone if they wanted to sleep with me in the break room” the brunette mumbles, her hands fidgeting with her coffee cup.

Everyone except Aubrey chuckles.

“I’m Beca. Apparently, it’s not appropriate to speak about someone’s cute butt several times when the person is present” she says with an eye-roll.

Suddenly an unknown voice raises up. “It is not, apparently. Even less if this is not the first time you caused an issue, Miss Mitchell.” The door opens completely, and a woman enters. She doesn’t join them at the table but makes herself at home at the front desk, unpacking her folders and her bag. She wears a knee-high blue skirt with a white blouse, heels, and her vibrant red hear is pinned-up in a tight bun.

She looks _hot_. Aubrey swallows; she may be reserved, correct and perhaps might have been called _uptight_ sometimes, but she’s only human after all. And she’s not blind.

Beca groans quietly at the rebuke but sits back, bracing herself for the things to come.

“My name is Chloe Beale and I’m going to be your seminar leader for the next two days” the woman says and turns around to write her name on the flip chart.

“So.” Chloe starts, “usually it is not of anyone’s concern why someone honors us with their presence, but since you wanted to know so desperately Mr. Allen, I suggest you tell us your story and we’ll use it as our exemplary case.” She has both of her hands on the backrest of her chair and her blue eyes focus on the last of the four.

He looks around insecurely and rambles; when he’s finished, Aubrey is pretty sure he said something about being called Bumber and that he slapped the ass of an intern as she was assigned to get case files for him.

“Dude! That’s… so not ok! What were you thinking?” Even Beca, who Aubrey is pretty sure flirts with every woman nature has created on this planet, is indignant about his actions and stands up.

“Miss Mitchell, please calm down. Mr. Allen is _here_ because of his actions and there will be other consequences, anyway these are not yours to conduct.” Chloe says in a calm and firm voice. Aubrey catches herself thinking about that voice and the vocabulary in an entirely different situation and swallows again, her mouth dryer than usual.

Beca huffs but follows Chloe’s instructions, crossing her arms. Chloe gives them all a firm smile, and they start the seminar. They clarify what sexual harassment means and go through examples of such actions (which is sometimes interrupted by unbelieving comments from Beca and Bumper, and sometimes by naïve questions by Jesse and Stacie) until it is time for lunch break.

They decide to switch to another deli than usual, as no one is keen on meeting their direct co-workers. While the others gather their belongings, Aubrey is already at the front desk.

“Miss Beale?” She coughs lightly, trying to ignore the sweet and intoxicating smell of the seminar leader’s perfume. When Chloe turns to her, she continues politely in a quiet voice. “Hi. Listen, while I’m all in for this kind of training and definitely see the necessity for some people to attend-“ her eyes wander to her co-participants, “-I’m pretty sure there was a misunderstanding concerning my case.”

“And what makes you believe that, Miss Posen?” Chloe gives her a small smile and her eyes are piercing through Aubrey’s soul. Aubrey is pretty sure she stopped breathing for too long, so she inhales deeply.

“Well, this was clearly an accident. I never, and I mean _never_ \- would even think about touching someone there.” _That’s a big fat lie._ “I mean, I would never do that in a working environment. I mean never _ever_ , if this was not something somebody would also like. Me… to… do.” She ends, realizing this came out not that professionally as originally intended.

Aubrey is sure to see a smirk on Chloe’s perfect face, but it fades away as quickly as it came. The redhead breathes out and thinks about her answer for a few seconds. “Miss Posen… you made a very good impression the last hours and you seem to be very… skilled with this topic-“

Aubrey cuts her, “I’m working for the public laws and rights sector.”

“-I know, Miss Posen, I read your file.” She gives Aubrey an assuring smile. “And while I actually believe that this indeed might have been an accident, as you stated… this is nothing we can be casual about. I don’t think I need to explain that this falls under the Human Rights Law and has to be taken very seriously to ensure a safe workplace for everyone.”

Aubrey sighs and nods affirming. “Yes, I know. I just don’t want you, I mean, everyone to think that I’m a sick groper, because I’m really not. And for all I know _I_ could give this seminar.” Chloe raises an eyebrow and Aubrey quickly corrects herself “I don’t think that you’re not… See, I know all this perfectly well and you’re doing great-“

At this, Chloe laughs genuinely. “-sorry that came out wrong. All I want is to go back doing my job and don’t worry about this because I’m a good person actually.”

“Don’t worry Miss Posen, as far as I can tell, you will go back doing your job and everything will going to be fine. Nonetheless, you _have_ to do this. So, please stop worrying and work with me here. Before you know it, you’ll be out there in your office, working on your cases again.” Chloe winks at her and Aubrey hears a cough from the door. It’s Beca, waiting for her.

“You’re coming?”

* * *

They order their food and take a few steps away from Jesse, Bumper and Stacie, who sit at a table, chatting about something.

“So, what did you do?” Beca asks with a smirk, nudging Aubrey with her elbow. Aubrey just huffs. “C’mon, please? You know all _our_ stories! And I bet that yours is not half as bad as Bumper’s. I mean he really is a total creep. Did you try to flirt with someone by suing them?” She wiggles with her eyebrows.

Aubrey sighs. Beca apparently didn’t change and still acts as if she was the sophomore student she was when they got to know each other.

“Will you ever grow up?”

“Still with the height jokes, Posen?” Beca snarls.

“Not intended, but it worked anyway I see.” Aubrey replies and gives her a smug look. “No, I didn’t flirt with anyone. It was an accident.”

“Sure.”

“Yes, it was! I was on the phone speaking with judge Abernathy _again_ , this woman drives me crazy… anyway, I was very focused and looked through my file cabinet, while Heather stood next to me, with her back facing me. Then I wanted to nudge her while still looking into the cabinet because I wanted her attention and I didn’t realize she had already turned, facing me.”

Beca has to hold back a grin. “What happened?”

“I nudged her… boobs. Twice.”

Beca grins then. “This doesn’t sound so bad. I mean… no one who knows you would assume you did this on purpose.”

“Well, she’s new and doesn’t know me. She is… was? My new secretary.”

“Oops.”

“You could say that. I clearly do not deserve to be in this course with you and the others.”

Beca wants to protest at first but changes her mind. “Yeah… you might be right about that. I actually feel like an ass after this morning. I didn’t really realize that I caused this much inconvenience.” Beca mumbles, scratching her neck.

“This isn’t college anymore, Beca. You could play cool and flirty then, but a little bit more professionality is advisable. Even as the IT nerd you are. _Even_ if you can show up in chucks and checkered flannels”

“Guess you’re right. I really have to apologize to her.”

They both are quiet for a while, till their order is ready and they join the others for lunch.

* * *

“So, you wanna grab dinner tonight? Beca asks Aubrey when they’re on their way back to their building.

“Beca, you know…”

“No, not like that. I swear I’m not hitting on you!” she holds her hands up defensively. “But I think this was our longest talk since graduation and I really enjoyed this. We could be friends again?” A mischievous smile forms on her lips.

Aubrey has to think about it for a bit but agrees in the end. They always got along o.k. in college and maybe they _could_ be friends.

Back in the seminar, they continue the lesson; learning about statistics and why it is necessary to define boarders and harassment at all. In between, Aubrey finds herself catching a secret note, obviously thrown by Beca.

_stop staring at her youre drooling_

Aubrey gives her a glare, but answers.

_am not!!_

She throws the paper back when Chloe turns to the flipchart, just to get it back a few seconds later.

_you are! dont worry though she stared at your ass when we left for lunch_

Aubrey lifts her eyebrows at this and looks at Beca, who only nods grinning. The IT girl holds her hand up to her face to cover it and forms words without speaking. _she’s checking you out_

Aubrey crumples the note and puts it in her inside pocket, irritated about the new information.

At the end of the day, they all gather their stuff and leave. Aubrey finds herself walking to the parking lot next to Chloe, since Beca paired up with Stacie a few steps ahead. The two women chat and giggle and it looks as if somethings going on between the two. Aubrey’s suspicion might be confirmed when Stacie hands Beca her business card with a wink.

“So, Miss Posen-“ Chloe starts.

“You can call me Aubrey”

“I prefer not to, at least not when the course is still running.

“Oh. Okay.”

“Keeps it more professional, you know? So, I hope your sorrows could be appeased. You’re an exemplary participant and you should sail through the exam.” Chloe chimes.

Aubrey’s eyes go wide. “There’s an exam??”

Chloe chuckles. “Just a little test. Just to make sure you listened carefully.” She winks the second time this day and takes a turn to her parking spot.

Beca and Stacie stand in front of Beca’s car when Aubrey catches up. After Stacie says goodbye, Beca turns to her with the typical smirk. “Had a good time with her?”

“I could ask you the same question. What about scaling it down?” she shoots back.

Beca just grins. “Got me there. So, pizza and beer at seven?”

“See you later then.”

* * *

The next morning, Aubrey is a little bit more relaxed when she walks down the corridor. It was actually kind of nice not to work till late at night and she had a cool evening playing pool with Beca. The prospect of seeing Chloe again maybe adds to her mood.

They talk about law regulations, penalties and consequences; in the afternoon Chloe informs them about the test they have to take. Jesse and Stacie become pale and look at each other anxiously, while Bumper just sits in his chair, arms crossed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Beca whispers.

“Sorry, I forgot. It won’t be a big deal… I guess.” Aubrey replies while she tucks her hair behind her ears.

“Yeah, maybe for you, lawyer!”

“Miss Mitchell, I have to ask you to be absolutely quiet. This will not be performed in teamwork.” Chloe interrupts them. Beca rolls her eyes and mumbles something before she focuses on the piece of paper before her; Choe just smiles mischievously at Aubrey who can’t manage not to smile back.

After 45 minutes the time is up and everyone hands back their tests to Chloe. “Okay. You will each get a letter with information regarding the pass of the seminar and how human resources decides to proceed further after your individual incidents. From my end, the seminar is finished. If there aren’t any questions concerning contents, it’s quitting time!”

They can hear Stacie chiming a small “Yay!” in the back of the room, which everyone takes as a sign to get up. As glad as Aubrey is for the end of this embarrassment, she’s kind of sad that it’s ending. After all, she re-connected with Beca again and the fact that their teacher really was a piece of eye candy even surpassed that. She packs her things extra slow to get a few seconds of goodbye with Chloe. Beca gets the message and follows Stacie out of the room.

When she walks up to the front desk, Aubrey raises her voice. “So, um. How do you think will it go from here?”

Chloe locks eyes with her. “Well, when it comes to your incident, I’m pretty sure there will be a small warning with an excuse prompt. But it won’t affect your career to a great extent.”

Aubrey breathes out, glad about the work-related outcome. Chloe still looks at her and she starts to smile. “When it comes to, let’s say, a more private related future… I would like to ask you out for dinner, Aubrey.”

Aubrey’s jaw falls, but she manages to get it up quickly. “Y-yeah, I would really like that. Chloe.” she adds.

“Great. Friday? I’ll call you.” Chloe’s smile morphs into a wide grin.

“Awes!” _Since when does she say ‘awes’?_

When Aubrey gets to her car, she sees Beca and Stacie leaning at Beca’s car, making out.

Instead of taking offense, Aubrey just smiles. _Today was a good day._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this has gotten a little out of hand, but I've a feeling that you won't blame me ;)  
> @the IT folk out there: I'm deeply sorry, I'm sure I butchered your field of work. I keep writing about stuff I don't know, why though? Maybe I should write about microbiology, but I think nobody's intested in this xD  
>  **TW:** Light verbal sexual harassment

Aubrey puts the hairdryer into the bathroom closet and powerwalks into the kitchen. She can’t risk her risotto to burn, not when the atmosphere may already be a bit loaded due to the expecting guests.

She and Chloe have been dating for roughly a month now and it’s great. Nice dates, heavy make-out sessions, cuddly movie nights and in-depth conversations about everything and anything. Aubrey is falling for her and has a feeling the red-haired consultant reciprocates these feelings.

Meanwhile, she and Beca had continued the act of reconnecting - now they often join each other for lunch, talk on the phone about old times and even have established a weekly pizza night. It’s evolving into a comfortable friendship which Aubrey didn’t know she’d need; work consumed her for the last few years.

So at this point one thing was inevitable: having Chloe and Beca together at her table. It’s not as if both women hated their guts, no. The fact that Beca was attending the anti-harassment seminar because of good reasons and didn’t behave all contrite at first could have provided some kind of defensive attitude on Chloe’s part though.

She hopes for the best while she stirs the food; then the doorbell rings and of course it’s Chloe who is first to arrive. She walks upstairs and Aubrey is again enchanted with the women’s beauty - she has straightened her red curls and wears a black dress which hugs her in all the right places. Suddenly, Aubrey wants nothing more than to burn the food and cancel Beca.

“Hi baby” Chloe grins and goes in for a full hug. Aubrey clings at her while smelling her perfume and greets back. “Hey babe, you look amazing.”

“Thanks, you too” Chloe replies and kisses Aubrey gently a few times before they make it inside the apartment.

“What do you think about canceling everything and getting cozy tonight?” Aubrey asks and lets her hands wander up and down Chloe’s sides.

“Sounds great, Aubs” she hums while being felt up, “…but I remember that this was very important for you. So I’m totally ready for doing this tonight. I… might have brought new underwear for tomorrow?” Chloe asks and raises an eyebrow.

“Is this, uhm, are you saying that; I’m sorry, what?”

The redhead laughs at the incomprehensible rambling and squeezes Aubrey’s lower arm. “I was thinking that I could stay here tonight. Whatever that means.” Her raised eyebrows now move into a wiggle and she smirks mischievously.

Aubrey only stares at her, so she backtracks. “I mean, only if that’s okay with you, baby. I don’t want to force you to anything you don’t want. Oh god, was that a bad idea?”

“NO!” Aubrey shouts and startles them both. “Uhm, no. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I get this for myself the whole night.” She points at Chloe and wants to seductively kiss her when a completely other thought runs through her mind. “Oh shit, the risotto!”

..........................

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rings again and Beca arrives. By her standards, she is dressed up, wearing a jeans and an ironed black shirt. She’s not really Aubrey’s type, but the lawyer can appreciate her appearance.

“What’s up Posen?” Beca greets her and gives her a quick hug, something that has developed on their last pizza date.

“Hey Beca. You’re okay with white wine or do you want a beer? I still have this IPA in the fridge.”

“I’ll gladly take the IPA, thanks.” Beca enters the living room and sees Chloe sitting on the sofa. Her back doesn’t touch the back of the piece of furniture and her hands are folded properly in her lap. Beca has to suppress an eyeroll and remind herself that this is Aubrey’s girlfriend (?) and somehow, they have to get along. She doubts that this woman even owns a pair of sweatpants.

“Hey Chloe.” They never _introduced_ themselves by their first name and it feels awkward in her mouth.

Chloe is well-behaved and gets up to greet her with a handshake. “Hello Beca, nice to see you again.”

They smile politely at each other and Beca is relieved when Aubrey gets back with her drink.

“There you go. Oh, and wash your hands, dinner’s ready in 5.”

They manage to make idle chit chat during dinner and mostly talk about the upcoming baseball season, of which Chloe is a big fan. She even owns several jerseys and a season ticket for the Braves, which on one hand irritates Beca; on the other hand it makes Chloe appear less uptight. The atmosphere is more relaxed after the second glass of wine and beer and Beca recognizes that Chloe got her heels off while they ate. Maybe the woman was equally nervous at the beginning.

“So Beca, anything new about you and Stacie?” Aubrey asks after she comes back from the kitchen where she changed their emptied dishes to a bowl of M&Ms.

“Uhm. New? I don’t know…”

“Aren’t you and her… you know?” Aubrey wiggles a bit from left to right.

Beca shoots her an uncomfortable frown and glances at Chloe. “M-Ms. Conrad’s and my relationship is on a purely professional level.”

Chloe chuckles and takes a sip of her wine. “You don’t need to justify. As long as everyone is on the same page, people can do what they want.”

“We’re not even real co-workers, I mean she’s a lawyer and I’m in IT, so.”

“Beca, I get it. Relax”

“Just wanna make sure that I’m not the bad guy this time.” She holds her hands up in defense.

“Well, that _is_ very appropriate of you”

“You wouldn’t have thought, would you?”

Chloe leans forward with a serious face now. “Maybe I am surprised”

“Yay me, not just a horny molester.”

Chloe sets her glass down, stands up and is about to retort something, when Aubrey interferes.

“Enough!” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I certainly didn’t want to start something like this, but I get that this was probably very stupid. I’m sorry for asking about you and Stacie, Beca.” She points at both her guests. “You need to stop behaving like this. Yes Beca, you were pretty oblivious back then. And Chloe, yes, she made some mistakes but worked on them. There. Can we move on now and just change the topic? ...How about a game?”

Chloe and Beca have an equal sour look on their face, but Chloe is quick to recover. She’s here for Aubrey and promised to get along with Beca, who was a pain in the ass while they had the seminar. But she also knows that her soon-to-be-girlfriend is really happy with this renewed friendship and that the small woman might be alright if they could forget about the way they got to know each other.

“You’re right baby. I’m sorry, to both of you. And yeah, why not?”

Beca just hums and manages to roll her eyes without them seeing it. “’M sorry, too.” She looks at Aubrey first and then to Chloe. “Yeah, sure. Got something in mind?”

So Aubrey gets to her shelf and browses. It takes only a couple of seconds before she regrets her suggestion. The playing cards are old and yellowed, she lacks several dice and the playboard of Monopoly falls apart. Not that it’d be a good idea to play Monopoly with those two right now. Or ever.

“Um, okay I might have been a bit hasty with this. The only game that’s not like a hundred years old is this” she holds up a box of Scrabble, something she got to her birthday by her father two years ago.

Beca watches her incredulously. “Scrabble? Dude, you need to update your shelf like yesterday. I’ll send you a link, there’s this awesome game called Dinosaur Island…” She already gets her phone out and starts typing, while Chloe watches her and then turns to Aubrey.

“I’m in. Nothing like a good battle of words.”

Aubrey shoots her a small smile. “Yeah, I mean… I really need to gets some new stuff probably, but I didn’t have time the last years and… no one to play with I think.”

“Aww baby. Well now you do.” Chloe takes the game from her before she gives her a kiss and they start setting everything up.

..........................

40 minutes later, everyone is pretty focused on their available letters. Beca and Chloe started the first round using some kind of insults and each word was accompanied by a short glance to each other. Chloe laid _child_ , to which Beca answered _douche_. After Aubrey’s _cinnamon_ , Chloe continued with _jerk_ and she earned herself a skeptical look by her hopefully-still-soon-to-be-girlfriend. After that, Chloe and Beca changed their strategy. While Aubrey still laid regular words and focused on the most possible points (which made her win the last round), her guests tried to exceed each other by expanding their words. Beca’s _driver_ for example became a _screwdriver_ , while Chloe’s _soft_ (she laid it with a sweet smile at Aubrey) was getting changed to _software_ by Beca, who grinned devilishly.

In their third round now, the terms have changed back to normal. Aubrey is still a bit skeptical but can’t make out any foul strategy, so she plays along. Then Beca wants to pick up the blank stone from Aubrey’s _caram_l_ to change it with one of her own letters and Chloe pipes up.

“You _can’t_ do this!”

“Why not?” Beca asks back.

“Because it’s against the rules!”

“What kind of shit rules is that? I have the fitting letter, why wouldn’t I do this?”

“It’s not right.”

“But it _makes sense_! This way, the blank stone can be used again by us and it keeps the game going?”

“But-“

“I have another word for you.” Aubrey swipes the board clean with her arm and takes specific letters from everyone, while the other two only watch her with open mouths. Slowly, Aubrey forms several words everywhere over the board, crossing over various bonus fields.

_Youre a_

_bunch_

_of assholes_

“Oh, look!” she squeals with fake surprise. “Now I get… let’s see. Two times a triple word score, two double letter scores and a triple letter score! Nice. I think I’ll win!” She writes an epic number on her scoreboard and shoots Beca and Chloe an angry look, while the two women eye each other for a few seconds.

Then Beca starts to laugh hard and ends up with a few tears in her eyes. When Chloe sees the corner of Aubrey’s mouth twitch, she can’t help but join Beca. Aubrey tries to stay serious, but a grin forms on her face.

“You really are! You’re both stubborn and can be so bossy and it’s infuriating!” She says it while still grinning and Beca and Chloe calm down eventually.

“Guess she’s right, _Red_.” Beca comments with a smirk in Chloe’s direction.

“I’m afraid so, _halfling_.” Chloe answers with a smug look.

“Haven’t heard that yet, very original.” Beca still has a smile on her face. “So, who’s up for another drink and a last round with forming insults only?”

..........................

After Aubrey’s little outbreak, the mood changes significantly. They’re indeed able to play together, laugh about their attempts to score and use each other’s words to make it a rich game. Aubrey wins nonetheless, much to the dislike of Beca and Chloe, but they’re good losers.

Then the glasses are almost empty, and the game is forgotten - lose goofy words are laying around on the board and Beca yawns before she downs her drink.

“Guys, I think I need to sleep. Thanks for dinner, Posen.”

“You’re welcome.”

They get up and see Beca to the door.

“See you for lunch on Monday?” Aubrey asks while Beca puts her shoes on.

“Ah, I don’t know yet, we get a new team member on Monday and I was chosen to be the supervisor and familiarize them with everything.”

“Oh, really? Do you know anything about them?”

“No, just that they’re like fresh from college or something. Some rookie ready to grind my gears probably.” She holds up a peace sign and smiles. “Thanks again, I had a good time. Eventually.” She winks at Chloe and hugs Aubrey again. “Make good choices” she shouts behind her and leaves the hallway.

Aubrey shuts the door and turns around, while Chloe stretches herself and yawns loudly.

“I’m pretty tired now, I think it’d be best if we just get some sleep.” With that, she leaves the corridor and enters the bedroom, a mischievous grin on her face. Aubrey just stands there and can’t hide a bit of a disappointment.

“Oh. Okay, babe. Let me just clean up the living room.” She makes sure everything food related goes back into the kitchen and turns off the lights. When she enters the corridor again to go to her bedroom, Chloe’s tight black dress hangs from the door handle outside.

Then Chloe’s voice emits from inside with a sultry undertone. “If you want to find out if I wear anything aside from that, you should join me in here.”

That, she does gladly.

* * *

On Monday morning, Beca enters the large building with her sunglasses on and the usual reusable to-go cup in her hand. She checks herself in with the ID card dangling from her neck and gets into the IT wing, passes several offices and arrives at her own room. She enjoys the quiet peace the first few minutes after she’s arrived every morning - no calls, no problems, no service tickets. Not yet. The coffee is finished while she looks out of the window and observes the hustle on the streets.

When she turns on the computer, an intranet message is already waiting for her.

_[CR]: Morning Mitchell! Group meeting and welcome of the rookie @10 am in my office. Don’t be late!_

Beca answers with a short _aye cap!_ and starts the usual programs for daily test runs. Still 90 minutes of quiet work for her.

At 09:59, she enters CR’s office. “Hey guys. How is it going?” She fist-bumps with CR and waves at her co-worker Benjamin, who smiles at her.

“One minute early! I like this attitude. Had a good weekend?” CR asks irritated.

“Uhm. The usual. A reasonably filled fridge, no need to leave the house and my Xbox. So, yeah” Beca replies with an approving expression.

“Any ladies visiting?” CR presses with wiggling eyebrows.

“Maybe. A gentlewoman never tells.”

“I see, good for you. So, back to business. I sent Ashley to get the rookie from the reception while I fill you in.” CR implies Benjamin and Beca to get closer to her. “Her name’s Emily and she finished college a few months ago. She has no work experience; however, she’s graduated with honors and was the leader of a college IT workgroup which got an innovation award for a security project. She was recruited because I wanted someone who is able to breathe new life in our in-house security reconditioning. Your job-“ CR turns to Beca, “is to familiarize her with our daily work, answer her questions and integrate her in our team.”

Beca groans quietly. “Why is it _me_ again?”

“’Cause you’re my best woman, Mitchell. I know that if I wouldn’t be here anymore, you’d lead the department. Oh, and because you lost a bet, remember?”

Beca does. Damn those arcades and their basketball stations that look so easy. Benjamin chuckles and lays a hand on her shoulder.

“If it bothers you so much, I can do it. It would’ve been my job otherwise.”

“No, no. It’s okay. _Thou shalt honor thy gambling debts_ , my granddad used to say.”

“Did he now? What did he bet on, horseraces?” Benjamin asks.

“Bingo tournaments.”

Their little chat is interrupted when the door opens, and Ashley enters the room. “…and this is CR’s office, if you need to speak to our boss.”

Behind her, a woman follows. She has long, brown, wavy hair and a gentle face. Her eyes shine golden brown and her lips look soft as a pillow. The smile on the girl’s face is by far the cutest Beca has seen in a long time. That includes Aubrey’s reaction when she remembered her favorite pizza toppings.

Beca has an irresistible urge to take this girl on vacation to a lake in the woods; canoeing on the day, grilling marshmallows at the evening bonfire and snuggling in a large bed with tea at nighttime. _What the actual f*ck?_ She forces herself to close her eyes and get herself together.

CR moves from behind her table and greets both women. “Thanks for getting her, Ashley. Hi Ms. Junk, I hope you had a good trip?”

“I’m fine, thank you! Hey y’all, I’m Emily Junk. But you can call me Emily, I guess. I brought muffins!”

 _y’all?_ Beca wrinkles her nose. Next to her, CR starts to introduce everyone.

“Welcome aboard, it’s nice having you with us. You can put the tray on the table in the corner, thank you. So! You already met Ashley, who is mainly responsible for the internal IT service. You know, haywire computers, software restrictions and so on. Benji here-“ she moves on to their male colleague, “is maintaining the general software and keeps an eye on the databases; sensible client files and stuff like that.”

Emily shoots him a smile and he waves back at her, grinning. _How adorable_.

“And then we have Beca.”

CR’s and Emily’s eyes land on her and she coughs shortly and stands a bit tighter than before.

“She’s the one responsible for the server hardware and software and has worked with me on the extension of the out-of-the-box internal security system. Which is the project I want you on as well. She will also show you around and is your contact person for the next few weeks. Everything you need to know is in her head.”

“Hey what’s up.” Beca mumbles and locks eyes with Emily. It is like looking into Bambi’s eyes and she wants to drown herself in them. A smile forms on her face and Emily smiles back.

“Hey Beca, nice to meet you.”

“Hey what’s up.” Beca says again, still staring.

CR raises an eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

That gets Beca back and she looks at her boss. “Yup. Sure. I’m good.” _Gay panic, really? After all those years?_

“O-kay...” CR sighs and gets a folder from her desk. “This folder here contains a profound description of the security system installed right now and the changes we want to incorporate. This is not allowed to leave this building; this wing; this area of authority; your charge. Is that clear?”

Emily turns to her and nods. “Crystal!”

“Good. Now Mitchell, please show our new team member around and get her a cup of… coffee?”

“At this time of the day, gladly” Emily answers with a perfect polite smile.

“Wonderful” CR deadpans and shoves them out of her office.

..........................

The tour through their rooms was over quickly and now Beca and Emily exit the IT wing, each with a muffin in their hands, while Emily holds a mug of coffee as well. She already brought her own to store it in the break room and of course it has a photo of a kitten on it. They cross the entrance hall to get to the other offices.

“Well, that was our kingdom. The larger complex now belongs to the women and men in suits.” Beca explains while munching the little cake.

“I see. Are you over there often?”

“Hm, depends. Only if I’m on ticket duty actually.”

“Ticket duty?” Emily asks amused.

“Yeah, like, when there are a lot of tickets simultaneously and too much for Ashley to handle. I mean we’re not the biggest company out there, but sometimes it’s jinxed and every one of them has some problem that _needs to_ _be solved_ _like asap._ ” Beca makes quote signs with her hands when she says the last words. “Most of them are pretty okay though, even if some people’s ties are too tight.”

Emily giggles. “Not everyone can look good in flannel shirts” she quips back and winks at Beca. _Dear Lord._

They walk through the main corridors and eventually Beca decides to walk by Aubrey’s office to say hello and show her the new co-worker. She knocks and enters when she hears the typical “yes, come in” from her friend.

“Hi Posen, just wanted to say hi and introduce you to Emily here.”

Aubrey rises from her desk and gives them a polite smile. “Good morning, Beca. Hi, I'm Aubrey Posen.” They shake hands, exchange pleasantries and Aubrey seems delighted by the polite woman. She obviously likes this new IT girl and shoots Beca a smirk.

“I’ll take it you get lunch together and familiarize her with everything?” she asks when she returns to her desk.

“Yup, that’s the plan. Lunch on Wednesday, then?” Beca answers easily and lightly shoves Emily out of the office.

“Wednesday it is.”

Beca stands in the door frame and before she closes the door, she shoots Aubrey another look. “So, any fun after I left on Friday?” she stage-whispers into to room.

Aubrey looks at her wide-eyed but the smile on her face betrays her reaction. “Maybe?”

“That’s a yes!” Beca shouts and closes the door. They slowly make their way back to the IT wing.

“You’re friends with Ms. Posen I suppose?” Emily asks, both of her hand around the kitty mug.

“Yeah, I am. She makes a serious impression, but she’s a good one.”

“Well, she doesn’t wear a tie, so…”

Beca laughs. “No, she doesn’t. At least most of the time.”

“How did you become friends then?” Emily asks carefree, not knowing that this question might be a bit loaded.

Beca thinks hard before she settles for the easy answer. “We met in college.”

..........................

The next two weeks pass by smoothly. Emily is a great addition to the team and adapts to their banter really quickly. She regularly hangs out with Benjamin, and when they sit in the break room, they often get caught giggling about something they don’t want to speak about. It _doesn’t_ bother Beca. That’s what she tells herself. They’re almost the same age, so that must be the reason for their mingling. Emily has still the most mesmerizing eyes and a smile Beca wants to cast in plaster to put it in her apartment as decoration, but that’s just creepy so she suppresses this thought and acts as professionally as she can. Besides, Emily is like an innocent puppy that needs to be protected.

In the third week, Beca and Emily find themselves in Beca’s office. Emily stands next to her at the desk and they huddle over some plans to change the server structure in favor of the security system. Emily is close to her, closer than necessary, and it’s surprising how often her arm touches Beca’s accidentally. Or is it? Beca has been more sensitive since the anti-harassment seminar, because it opened her eyes to her own behavior. It’s probably nothing. Then it knocks on the door and Stacie comes in.

“Hey Becs, how long did you think you can avoid m-, oh! Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.” Stacie starts as soon as the door opens and Beca looks up from her desk, surprised.

“Hi Stacie, sorry we’re in the middle of something here, can we talk later maybe?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” She says mindlessly and walks over to Emily looking at her up and down. “I don’t think we got introduced yet? Dr. Stacie Conrad, divorce lawyer, at your service.” She bows before she takes Emily’s hand to shake it and the younger one gives her a sheepish smile.

Beca can’t believe what she sees. _Um, hello?_ She’s standing right next to them! All that’s missing is that Stacie kisses her hand.

“Hi, I'm Emily Junk. I’m the new one? Been here for just around 3 weeks now, so we haven’t seen each other yet.” Emily answers politely and Stacie gives her an approving broad smile which is emphasized by her deep red lipstick.

“Well, I hope that this changes in the future then, Ms. Emily Junk.” Stacie replies with a raspy voice.

Beca coughs now to get their attention. “I’m sorry, but we really have to finish this…”

Stacie raises an eyebrow. “U-huh. I’ll get out of your hair then… I’m free the upcoming weekend, Mitchell. We could… continue the _game_ from last time. You wouldn’t want to miss out, would you?” She sends Beca a wink and turns to Emily. “Bye, Emily” With that, she leaves the office.

“Wow.”

Beca chuckles. “Yeah sorry, she’s a bit much sometimes.”

“She was super nice! And you said that they all have a stick in their butt.”

“Yup. Wait, what?” Beca’s jaw fells down and turns to Emily.

“I mean she looked a bit intimidating but until now everyone turned out to be really friendly.” Emily beams at her a second longer than usual and then refocuses on their plans.

..........................

_“Sorry Beca, Benji’s on duty, too. Take Emily with you, she needs to know the procedures as well.”_

Beca sighs. “You got it, boss.” She ends the call with CR and leaves her office to get Emily helping her with ticket duty. Ashley was booked out the whole day and somehow, it’s one of these days again where it feels like every employee manages to break their computer or whatever. She arrives at the small office they gave Emily and knocks twice before she opens the door without waiting for an answer. A clear mistake.

Emily stood with her back to the door but turns around now, only in her bra. Well, she wears pants, but Beca is busy looking at her upper body and the cleavage above some prominent abs.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry” Beca squeals and turns on her heels to exit.

“No, wait!”

The door is ajar and Beca is focusing in the ground. Since when do they have orange lines on the grey carpet in the corridors? “Um, would you mind telling me what’s going on, Em?” She really hopes that no one comes along, this situation doesn’t need to get public.

“I spilled coffee on my shirt. I’m afraid I can’t get it out.

“And your solution is to just wear nothing, then?” Beca answers into the corridor. The image of Emily flicks through her mind and she forces herself not to go in there until the girl has covered herself. God, she looked so good. A few months ago, Beca would have just stayed in the doorframe probably, enjoying the show.

“Clearly not.” Emily lets out a giggle. “I was hoping to get a spare shirt or something. I called you, but you didn’t answer. Obviously on your way to me.”

“Okay, give me a minute, I’ll get you something.”

A bit later, she arrives with a worn-out sweater saying _‘Science. It works, bitches’_ on its front. Beca opens the door a few inches and throws the sweater in.

“There you go. I hope it fits; when I wear it, it looks like a kid wearing adult clothes.”

“I bet you look _very_ cute in it” Emily replies, opening the door while she puts the sweater on, a bit of her skin still showing.

Beca covers her eyes with a hand. “Dude! What are you doing? Can’t you get dressed like… alone?”

Emily chuckles and exits her office. “Calm down, I’m decent now. What’s getting you all flustered? Like what you've seen?”

“Just… let’s go.” She turns around to hide her red face.

“Where are we going anyway?”

“It’s ticket duty day. Remember? Gotta help the suits.”

Their first stop is actually Aubrey, who complains about her computer shutting down and not turning on again. They promise to get her a spare laptop as a temporary replacement and leave when the blonde is already on her phone again, probably talking to some judges or paralegals. Two assistants and a secretary on another level later, they end up in a group office with Bumper, one of the other attendants of her seminar weeks ago. _Please don’t say anything, please don’t say anything, please don’t say-_

“Mitchell!” Bumper calls her and Beca clenches her jaw.

“Good morning Mr. Allen. We got a ticket from you saying you got a freezed image?”

Bumper approaches her with the intention of giving her a high five. “Why so serious, Mitch? Got dumped by someone?”

Beca’s eyes nervously flicker to Emily, but she doesn’t notice anything suspicious. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can we just take care of the problem?”

“All business, I see. Well, I was doing research, working as usual, and then it just stopped doing anything.”

She sighs, frustrated with the non-existing amount of information. “Okay, let me have a look.”

It takes some time and Beca sits at the desk, trying several possible solutions while now and then giving Emily some indications of her doing. She knows that Emily is just as fit as she is doing this, but they have something like a standard operating procedure which needs to be worked through.

“So who’s the sexy newbie, Mitchell?” Bumper asks, as if Emily wasn’t there with them. “Care to introduce yourself, Ms…?”

Beca turns around. “Excuse me? Are you serious?”

“What? I was giving you a warm welcome, but you we’re all uptight. I hope Ms. I-don’t-know-her-name-yet is more relaxed. Hey, I’m Mr. Allen, but you can call me Bumper if you want.” he says, holding out a hand.

Emily turns around, and if she’s offended, she doesn’t show it, but gives him a smile and declines his hand. “Hi, I’m Emily Junk. Nice to meet you, Mr. Allen.”

“Emily would you please do me a big favor and get me a coffee? There’s a small kitchen at the end of the corridor” Beca asks Emily and hopes she’ll get the meaning.

“Yup, no problemo” the girl says and walks out. Bumper’s eyes follow her and are sticking at her butt.

“Dude, _what the hell_? Have you learned _nothing_?” Beca hisses.

“What? Come on, she’s hot. Already called dibs, Mitchell?”

“I swear, if you do so much as look at her when she comes back-“

“Something tells me you _did_! So what are you going to do now, huh? I’m pretty sure _my uncle_ , who happens to be one of the _CEO’s_ , is not very interested in what _you_ might have to say.”

 _Well, that explains while he is_ still _here._ _Chloe needs to know about that._

“Just shut up and let me work.”

Bumper makes faces at her and she tries to distract herself with his computer. A few minutes later, there’s a silver lining. Bumper seems to have used an illegal program to circumvent the security settings and get on a porn site. What a surprise. The side effect was a shit load of trojans. But he doesn’t need to know that Beca knows. That is pure evidence for his fuckery.

“Okay I need to run some… _maintenance_ software, but I can do that remotely from our offices. Meanwhile you’ll get a spare laptop.” _Which will be heavily secured, my friend._

“Seriously? Well you better hurry up then, I’ve important work to do.”

“Sure.” She writes him a renting voucher. “Get this to the issuing office on the ground floor and you’ll be fine.”

Beca gets up to meet Emily halfway, so she doesn’t need to meet Bumper again. What an ass.

..........................

Beca’s and Aubrey’s weekly pizza night rolls around and they lounge on Beca’s couch with their respective food. Aubrey has been gushing about her relationship with Chloe, who is her official girlfriend now, and Beca is genuinely happy for her.

“Random question.” Beca starts, chewing. “Does she own sweatpants?”

Aubrey laughs. “What? Why wouldn’t she?”

“Just checking. Good to know.” Beca muses and Aubrey shakes her head.

“I’ll just ignore this. So, enough about me, us. How are you? How’s working with Emily? She seems nice.”

“She is. It’s been good, she’s learning fast and is pretty smart. I withdraw from the security project now, she’s a better help for CR than I am. Did you know she can multiply three-digit numbers in her head like, in a blink?”

“Is that important for your work?”

“No. It’s cool anyway. Much cooler than her ability to get what she wants, though...”

“What do you mean?”

“Ugh, she made me watch this Taylor Swift documentary on Netflix. And I have to admit that it was not as bad as I thought. Actually it was pretty good.”

“U-huh.” Aubrey muses.

“What?”

“Nothing. Your eyes shine when you talk about her.”

“Taylor Swift?” Beca asks, finishing her slice of pizza.

“No idiot, about Emily.”

“Pshh, they don’t.” Beca quickly averts her eyes and takes another slice.

“Oh, but they do, Mitchell. Is it possible that you have a tiny crush on her?” Aubrey nudges Beca with her foot and grins. “Aw, you can tell me!”

“There’s nothing going on!”

“…but you want to?” Aubrey is still grinning and Beca kicks her calf. “No need to get physical… speaking of, are you still seeing Stacie?”

“Nah. Last time I saw her was on the weekend of our little Scrabble intermezzo.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Of what? Your love night with Red?”

“I was thinking about Scrabble, but of _that_ you can gladly remind me of.” Aubrey looks into the distance dreamily and Beca makes a gag noise.

“Douche. So are you asking her out or what?”

“Who? Stacie?” Beca asks, obviously knowing who Aubrey means.

“So damn funny, Mitchell. Forget Stacie. She seems nice enough, but Emily would do you good.”

Beca exhales slowly. “She’s like the kindest and most innocent human being. I don’t think I’d be good for her.”

“Please. You were some kind of jerk with some unnecessary big dick energy then, but you’ve changed a lot. Especially since the seminar. Look at us! I mean we always got along somehow, but I wouldn’t have called you my best friend in college.”

“Aw, but now you do? You do love me a little bit, don’t you Posen?”

“Don’t be smug about it, hobbit.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Chloe” Beca winks at Aubrey and flushes her pizza down with a swig of her beer.

..........................

Beca walks through the familiar corridor, turning on the lights. It’s almost half past two in the morning and she wears sweatpants and an old hoodie. She strolls in the direction of the server room, as she passes Emily’s office and sees light emerging from the slit under the door. _What the hell?_ Beca knocks but gets no answer. She slowly opens the door, not keen on surprising a half-naked Emily again.

“Hello? Emily? Are you dressed?”

She’s met with silence and opens the door further. Emily lies on her desk, head propped on her arms. She’s totally knocked out above some files, obviously she was working late. Beca approaches her and tries to wake her gently.

“Hey Emily… Em! Sleepyhead, wake up!”

“No, I don’t want any raisins!” Emily jerks up and in one corner of her mouth is a small white crust from her saliva. Beca thinks it’s the most adorable view.

“Hey Junk, what are you still doing here?”

“Beca? Oh my stars, I totally fell asleep…”

Beca chuckles and steps back. “You could say that, you really shouldn’t work so late. Don’t you have to be home with your cat or something?”

“I don’t have a cat.”

“Oh, I thought… well, your mug?”

“Oh, no that _was_ my cat. Tupac. I got him when I was little, but he died a few years ago. As a happy grandpa I must say.” Emily looks pleased for a reason Beca can’t wrap her head around.

“Uhm. Good for him? Look, I gotta go, there’s some emergency with the servers, the system sent me an alarm…”

“Can I come with you?” The younger woman beams and stands up.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. You’re sure you don’t want to head home?”

“Meh, doesn’t depend on an hour.”

The emergency turns out to be remedied after 30 minutes and now Beca and Emily sit next to each other on the ground of the server room, waiting for the control program to finish so they can head home.

“Did you watch the documentary yet?” Emily asks out of the blue and smirks at Beca.

“Would you believe me if I say no?”

“Depends. Look into my eyes and answer.”

Beca rolls her eyes and declines at first, but then does it anyways. She digs those eyes. “No.”

“Liar.”

“Come on, how do you know?”

“Oh, so you _did_ watch it!” Emily giggles and shoves Beca a bit.

“Screw you, Junk. Yes, I did. It was cool. That doesn’t mean I like her music, though.”

“Not even a tiny, tiny bit?” Emily presses and her voice goes up a bit.

“No!”

“Look into my eyes-“

“No, I won’t, you little devil.” Beca stands up but grins as she walks over to check on the servers. They’re comfortable hearing only the humming of the server fans for a bit.

“Hey Beca?” Emily breaks the silence.

“Hm?”

“Is Stacie your girlfriend?”

Beca almost chokes on her saliva. “No! God, no. She isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, she’s nice and all, but no.” Somehow it’s really important to Beca that she makes sure how very not Stacie is her girlfriend.

“Just having fun, then?”

“Sorry?” Beca tries to act the innocent.

“Beca, I know the _game_ you play is not available on Xbox.” Emily replies, looking down while she plays with a strand of her hair.

Beca swallows and sits down next to her co-worker again.

“The game is over for a while now. Didn’t like the genre anymore.” Beca mumbles insecurely.

Emily turns to her and they lock eyes, faces just inches apart. “I might have a suggestion for you,” she whispers back, “but I don’t know your preferences or if this is okay with us working together.”

Beca isn’t dense. Sure, she has been oblivious in her life from time to time, but right now, she knows exactly what Emily’s implying. The girls eyes briefly glance to her lips and Beca knows she could just close the distance and get away with it, but then panic arises.

Emily is so soft and good, but they’re co-workers and the voice of the HR person handling her case rings in her ears. _Mitchell, if we get one more complain about you, we can’t continue this employment contract. We let you pass the test Ms. Beale gave you because you’re an important employee, but you are not indispensable! This is your last chance._

“I-I’m sorry I have to take this.” She stands up abruptly and takes her phone out, pretending that she got called. Her legs carry her out of the server room to the end of the corridor and she dials a certain number out of sheer fear.

A few miles away, Chloe wakes up from the sound of her mobile. She’s disorientated but acts automatically. “Hello?” she answers with a raspy voice.

_“Hey, it’s me, Beca!”_

“Beca? What…?” She looks at the alarm on the nightstand. “Are you okay?”

_“Yes. No. I mean. I don’t know.”_

“Okay, well take you time, it’s not as if you just woke me up or something.”

_“Sorry. I’m at the office with Emily.”_

“What? Why? Did something happen?”

_“We had an emergency with the servers, but it’s okay now.”_

“What’s the matter then?” Next to Chloe, Aubrey turns around and snuggles into her side. Chloe strokes her hair to calm her.

_“It’s Emily, she’s very… forward?”_

“Forward? What do you mean? Is she hitting on you?”

 _“I think so.”_ Beca’s voice sounds nervous.

“Okay, wait a second…” Chloe, completely professional, carefully rummages in her purse next to the bed, so as not to wake up her girlfriend. She finds a pen and some piece of jotting paper.

“Alright. Is this the first time or did it happen before?”

_“Phew, I don’t know, a couple of times now that I think about it.”_

“Okay… and have you told her that it makes you uncomfortable?”

_“Uhm, no?”_

“Okay Beca, I know it can be intimidating and unpleasant to turn down a co-worker but remember that your wellbeing is more important than some working atmosphere! She needs to know that it makes you uncomforta-“

_“I’m not uncomfortable!”_

“You’re not uncomf-, wait. What?”

_“I’m not uncomfortable with her flirting with me actually.”_

“…then _why_ do you call me in the middle of the night?” Chloe asks a bit louder and Aubrey mumbles into Chloe’s side. “Tell Beca that she needs to get her shit together. She should just ask her on a date or something.”

_“I just wanted to behave correctly, and you know all about it, okay? HR told me that if anything like that happens again, I’ll fucking lose my job for Christ’s sake! And Em is my direct co-worker, so-”_

“Beca you don’t need to _report_ flirting or else as long as it’s _consensual_!”

_“Oh. Right.”_

Chloe facepalms and shakes her head. “Didn’t you tell me she was some womanizer in college?” she side-whispers annoyed to Aubrey.

Aubrey hums affirmatively and mumbles, eyes still closed. “She was until of late. Seems like Emily made her loose her cool.”

_“Is that Posen? Tell her I heard that!”_

“Jesus, halfling! Either go out with her or turn her down. As long as nobody’s getting harassed it’s not my freaking problem! Good night!” Chloe ends the call and slides her phone on the nightstand. Aubrey hugs her tight and kisses her cheek. “Don’t be mad at her babe, she never knew she would be soft for a girl someday.”

At the company, Beca puts her phone away and sighs, sliding down the wall. She breathes slowly. After a moment of sorting out her thoughts, she comes back to the server room, which is now empty. She takes a look at the servers; the control program has finished and greenlights. Giving the room a last look, she turns off the lights and locks the door, only to see Emily leaving the IT wing.

“Emily!”

The taller woman stops and turns. “I’ll head out, I’m pretty tired.”

“Wait, please!” Beca jogs and stops in front of Emily, who starts talking before her.

“Listen Beca, I’m sorry; I obviously crossed a line. I won’t bother you again. I’ll just, um, keep my distance from now on, please don’t be mad at me.”

“What are you talking about?”

Emily smiles embarrassed. “You don’t need to lie, you know. I accidentally heard you talking about losing your job and so on while I went into my office to get my stuff.”

“What? No Em, that’s not…” Beca exhales, this was not going the way she wanted it to go. “Look. Stuff happened in the past I’m not proud of, but it has nothing to do with you. I panicked. I… don’t want you to keep your distance.” She strokes her forefinger over Emily’s hand while she keeps her eyes down. “Maybe I’m scared about what could be.”

“Do you want to find out what could be, together?” Emily asks quietly and grabs Beca’s finger.

The older woman looks up and is met with Emily’s eyes, _those eyes_ _again_ that lock her gaze like a flytrap.

“Yes.”

She moves on her tip toes and slowly presses her lips against Emily’s, who inhales through her nose and moves against her welcoming. Everything is soft and warm, and a feeling of hot lava runs from her mouth to her lower body parts when Emily’s tongue slides into her mouth and strokes Beca's.

They break the kiss eventually and Emily holds Beca tight to her body. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I first met you.”

Beca chuckles and enjoys the moment of getting hold securely. This feeling was long forgotten and never came back with Stacie. “Oh yeah?”

“U-huh. You looked so damn cute while CR talked about your tasks here.”

“Shut up. I looked cool. Nerdy cool.”

Emily laughs loud and kisses Beca on her head. “Yeah, you did.”

“Wait, what about Benji?” Beca squirms out of Emily’s hug.

“What about him?”

“Aren’t you two…”

“What? Don’t say dating.”

Beca shrugs. “No. I just thought… because you’ve becoming so close each break and everything.”

“Benji is dating Luke from the second level, Beca. Tall, blond, muscular?”

“Oh. OH!”

“Oh my god, you totally didn’t know this, did you?”

Beca smiles sheepishly. Yeah, maybe she _can_ be pretty dense. Emily comes in for another kiss and Beca gladly reciprocates. They’re tangled in each other on the corridor, when a light flashes over them.

“Hey you! Stop moving! Who are you and what are you doing here?”

It takes a few minutes to convince the night guard of them being there legally as authorized employees and he lets them go with a warning. They walk hand in hand to the underground carpark and kiss goodbye before leaving for their respective cars. Before Beca gets in, she shouts at Emily.

„Hey, random question. Have you ever been on vacation to a lake in the woods?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Scrabble idea is actually not my own, I got inspired by Amanda Holland's one shot about Kendrick and Snow in the "Queer as fiction" podcast. If you haven't listen to it, DO IT! (not just this episode, but the whole podcast, it's with Ashly Perez and Kirsten King and it's hilarious)
> 
> ... and yes, the Taylor Swift reference is inspired by a true story. *cough*
> 
> Complain to me on [tumblr](https://f4lloutbean.tumblr.com/)


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